Location: Various in the historic Town of Rye
Contact Hours:8
Time: 9:00-6:00
Cost: $25 (includes lunch)
Cutoff Date: April 19
Click here for registration form
Human history has unfolded over the millennia on the stage first set during the Ice Age. For a day, participants will examine the natural environment from the remnants of the Ice Age to the world humans have created. We will learn of the first settlements in the area and of the struggle to maintain our civilized world as the flora and fauna once thought banished reappear. We will travel the waterways of the community and observe the changes which have occurred from colonial times to what has happened in the Village of Port Chester and the City of Rye and hear of the effort to bring a showboat to these waters while sailing on the lone commercial fishing boat of the area.
9:00 – During and After the Ice: The First Americans in the Hudson Valley: Eugene Boesch, Rye Free Reading Room, 1061 Boston Post Rd., Rye, www.ryelibrary.org
This lecture describes current views on the peopling of the Western Hemisphere at the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age. Traditional ideas see migrants from western Asia entering North America via the Barent Strait land bridge more than 15,000 years ago. Known to archaeologists as PaleoIndians, these migrants soon reached the United States where, it has been suggested, they were responsible for the extinction of large ice age mammals. By 12,000 years ago, these early Americans appear in the Hudson Valley. Evidence for their activities have been recovered along the present day Milton Harbor coast line of Rye, at the time a valley far inland from the ancestral Long Island Sound, potentially making the City one of the most important areas in the northeastern United States for understanding the lifestyles and adaptations of these early Americans
Eugene Boesch has undertaken archaeological investigations in the Hudson Valley area for over 30 years. He received his Ph.D. and other graduate degrees from New York University. Dr. Boesch’s work has primarily focused on Pre-Contact cultures and adaptations in the Eastern Woodlands of North America and on early Euro-American settlement in the Hudson Valley region. He also has worked in Israel, Egypt, Mexico, California, and throughout the mid-western United States. Currently Dr. Boesch is a faculty member in the Anthropology Department at Adelphi University and operates his own cultural resources consulting firm in Putnam County. He also has taught at New York University, Vassar College, SUNY Buffalo, Rutgers University, and Nassau Community College. In addition, Dr. Boesch has worked closely with Rye’s Jay Heritage Center on numerous archaeological investigations at the Peter Augustus Jay Mansion, a National Historic Landmark property. A concern for local historic preservation issues has led him to become a member of the Westchester County Historic Preservation Advisory Committee and the Putnam County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission.
10:15 – Edith G. Reed Natural Park and Wild Life Sanctuary Tour [enter through Playland Park]
Located on the shore of the Long Island Sound, along a migratory flyway, this 179-acre sanctuary is home to a great diversity of marine life. In winter months, the 85-acre lake, a mixture of salt and fresh water, hosts over 5,000 ducks. The sanctuary has been recognized by the National Audubon Society of New York as an Important Bird Area due to its significant habitats and flyway. There are three miles of trails through forest and field. Along the half-mile of publicly accessible shore, the intertidal habitat harbors a wide diversity of plants and animals.
12:00 – Lunch at Rye Nature Center – outdoor picnic tables or indoors if inclement weather. 873 Boston Post Rd, Rye, www.ryenaturecenter.org
1:00 – Rye Nature Center Tour: Ice Age, Archaeological Ruins, Bow-Hunting in the 21st Century
The Rye Nature Center is a Rye City-owned facility offering environmental programs through the cooperative efforts of the Friends of Rye Nature Center and the City of Rye. The Center is located on 47 acres of wildlife preserve, with over two miles of hiking trails, ponds, streams and granite outcroppings. The Nature Center has comfortable classroom and museum spaces for visiting classes and special events.
2:30 – Westchester Country Marshlands Conservancy Tour Route 1, Rye [next to the Jay Heritage Center, 210 Boston Post Road]www.westchestergov.com
Marshlands Conservancy is a 173-acre wildlife sanctuary composed of a diversity of habitats. Forest, meadow, salt marsh and shore can be explored and appreciated here. There are three miles of trails and one-half mile of shoreline along the Long Island Sound. Located along the Atlantic migratory flyway, Marshlands is an excellent birdwatching location; more than 230 species have been sited. The Marshlands salt marsh is one of few in New York accessible to the public for study and enjoyment.
4:00 – Byram River/Long Island Sound boat ride: Kevin Reynolds, captain and owner Snow Goose2 with Billy Frenz, owner Showboat (Byram River): leave from Port Chester Yacht Club, 84 Fox Island Road, Port Chester www.portchesteryachtclub.com
For further information contact IHARE at 914-939-9071 or email us at: contact@ihare.org
